Opening Doors

Lou Rivers, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in Humanities at New York City College of Technology/CUNY. He writes essays, poems, short stories, novels and plays of African American Experience. During his twenty-five (and more) years at City Tech, he served as Chairman of the Humanities department, coordinator of speech, theatre, and performing arts programs. He also served as executive director of plays, both professional and non-professional, and his career extended half a century including acting, directing, and playwriting. As a playwright, he studied playwriting with Walter Kerr at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and Elmer Rice at New York University, and John Gassner at Yale University. He's a John Hay Whitney and Andrew Mellon fellow in Creative Writing. He holds an M.A. in Dramatic Arts from New York University, and as an experienced educator, a Ph.D. from Fordham University. He is the recipient of many coveted awards and distinguished recognitions.